It is no longer news that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu clocked 60 years last Thursday. It will also be an understatement to say that the birthday boy is adored by many Nigerians, particularly in the south west. I guess if a popular election is conducted presently among the Yoruba speaking people of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu would emerge the most popular leader. Indeed, in a free contest nationwide he would fare well across the country as a popular brand. While his rise to the Yoruba leadership has been meteoric, essentially post 2007; it didn’t come easy.
No doubt Asiwaju has received and will continue to receive adulations from his numerous admirers including this writer; but I will not devote this space to mere praises. I will rather contextualise his struggles and exercise my prerogative for wishful thinking. I believe Asiwaju’s greatest contribution to modern Nigeria is in the field of constitutionalism. His insistence to test the frontiers of constitutional federalism will rank the most enduring of his achievements so far. The legal battle on the rights of the states to create local governments, the state’s rights on urban development and ownership of inland waterways and many other similar battles by the government of Lagos State against an overbearing Federal Government, while Asiwaju was Governor, will likely remain Asiwaju’s most invaluable contribution to our nation’s wellbeing.
Of course, the years of election petition battles which culminated in his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) reclaiming the government houses in Osun, Ekiti and Edo states will remain one of the most dogged perseverance by a political party in pursuit of a political right, since our political independence. Even when the odds were stalked so high against him and a coterie of his followers, (as the only surviving governor of the party in 2003) he was tenacious in pursuit of his vision, and this insistence later yielded a bountiful harvest. Today, the states that make up the former Western region, except Ondo State, are under the wings of his political party, with Asiwaju as the de facto and de jury leader.
With the emergence of his acolytes across the Southwest, Asiwaju continued his political battles towards the return of Nigeria to a true federal system of government. As the pre eminent leader of the region, Asiwaju has been able to mobilise the governors from the region, the state and federal legislators, local government administrators, technocrats and ordinary citizens to collectively push in the direction of regional integration and enforcement of the basic tenets of federalism.
While the road will continue to be long and treacherous, Asiwaju has shown from his antecedents that he has the cunning, patience and the stamina for long drawn political battles. Those who underestimated the political tenacity of Asiwaju would be ruing that neglect, following perhaps the greatest political come back in our history, as ACN reclaimed the Southwest from the grip of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the remaining states of Southwest in the 2007 elections.
Part of Asiwaju’s greatest strategy and perhaps his political legacy would be the grooming of political leaders from the grassroots to the national level. When I watch the sagacity of the young local government administrators in Lagos State, I cannot but marvel at Asiwaju’s foresight as he puts the building blocks for tomorrow’s superstructure. The same careful support and grooming is also manifesting in the choice of state administrators, commissioners, and advisers at that level. Equally instructive are the faces at the federal legislature; mainly young, ambitious and intelligent chaps representing the region at that level. Looking at the men and women that Asiwaju is sponsoring for political leadership, there is no doubt he is a leader with a firm focus on the day after. I have, therefore, little doubt that if his political ascendency continues to dominate beyond the 2015 elections, then it may take a political hurricane to change the unfolding cause of history.
As I have argued on this page, there is the urgent need to entrench into our political structure a competitive federal arrangement, if Nigeria is to survive as a nation. More persuasive is the need to alter our economy from the current rent seeking economy to productive and competitive enterprises across the country. No doubt among the major political contenders presently, Tinubu’s political odyssey clearly provides a strong alternative to achieving that pathway. More than any other politician of this era, Asiwaju has defined the type of Nigeria he wishes, has taken cogent steps in furtherance of that, and has achieved unprecedented results against all permutations and odds.
To show his tactical ability, Asiwaju having consolidated his strong hold in the Southwest, started to maneuver into other regions, choosing rightly the softer spots; without necessary shying away from a presence across the country. It is noteworthy that Asiwaju chooses his battles intelligently, as his maneuvers during the 2007 presidential elections showed. No doubt the 2015 presidential elections will provide an interesting scenario, as it will be evident that nobody can become President without first contending with the political interests of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
While I join Asiwaju’s family, disciples and admirers to wish him many happy returns; I can only wish for more Asiwajus to emerge across the country to lead Nigeria out of the current morass. In my humble view, there is the urgent need for synergy within the political ranks to steer the ship of Nigeria towards a better life for the people; not just in words but in action. As forces coalesce, who shall we send from the Southeast?
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